Heathrow is bracing for cuts to its proposed price increases for airlines to
use the airport, as its regulator readies for what should be the biggest
overhaul of UK airport regulation in decades.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will on Tuesday unveil its plans for the maximum landing charges that can be levied per passenger at Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow for the next five-year regulatory period, starting in April next year.

The shake-up will mark a departure from the past, as for the first time all three airports are in different hands following the break-up of the BAA monopoly which saw Heathrow’s Spanish-led consortium of owners having to sell Gatwick and Stansted.

But the plans have infuriated airlines. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, has called on the CAA to “stand up” for passengers, as higher charges would be passed on to them in the form of higher air fares.

The regulator is not expected to agree to the pace of Heathrow’s price increases.

Gatwick, meanwhile, hopes to gain greater flexibility in the charges it can levy on airlines, possibly cutting costs for fast-growing airlines to then better compete with Heathrow. Currently, there is a “one size fits all” regulatory system.

Stansted, too, could benefit from lighter regulation. Tuesday's announcement will be followed by a final decision from the CAA in January next year.